Feature

Climate change, the shifting temperature of the earth due to amplified levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) from fossil fuels and deforestation, is currently a topic of heated discussions worldwide. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations organization, stated that “warming of the climate system is unequivocal” [1].

GHGs persist in the atmosphere for hundreds of years [2]. Climate change is thus a very unique issue as its effects transcend time and space: GHGs emitted now in any location will affect the whole planet for many generations to come. Therefore, the generation that knowingly creates negative climate change should make every effort to reduce that impact; this represents a moral choice.

JOHANNESBURG, 28 January 2011 (IRIN) - Forests help sustain life on earth by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air, and also provide a home to many communities that depend on them, yet they become one of the biggest sources of harmful carbon dioxide when they are destroyed.

An imbalance in the perceived value of forests drives deforestation, which contributes between 12 percent and 20 percent of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions - about the same as the transport sector, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“Forest areas are often worth more harvested than left standing,” said Manish Bapna, managing director of the World Resources Institute (WRI), on the website of this US-based environmental think-tank.

Iloilo, Philippines -- Global warming or climate change is a hot issue these days that the Iloilo city leadership introduced a very important innovation for the Ilonggos and thought of some measures that can help mitigate global warming as well as build more climate-resilient communities.

It was a very timely move for city mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to introduce the environment friendly vehicle dubbed e-Jeepneys to the Ilonggos as thousands gathered in the capital city of western visayas along with foreign visitors and local tourists from other parts of the country for the Dinagyang Festival.